The Malfoys: A Fine Family
by RichaK05698
Summary: Young Scorpius, or Scor,is about to start at Hogwarts. Draco is now a loving, funny man... the perfect husband, the perfect father. And Astoria is an amazing woman! The Malfoys are a fine family.


'Dinner's ready, honey. Come down.'

'Coming, mum!'

Scorpius Malfoy emerged from his room on the first floor and made sure no one was looking. Then he made for the stairs and slid down the banister, his Chudley Cannons flag draped around him with a bit of string. Wouldn't do to let Mum see him; the last time he'd done that, he had come hurtling down on to the hall floor. As his luck would have had it, the carpet had been removed that day for the laundry and his mother had freaked out seeing the blood. This time, though, he was going to make the perfect landing, smooth and –

_CRASH!_

There, he'd done it again.

Embarrassed and thankful no one had seen him, he hurried to get up as he heard footsteps. Just his luck, his foot got entangled in the string, and he fell face-down on the floor again.

Before he'd even started trying to get up, he heard footsteps, a pause, and to his relief, hearty laughter.

Draco, emerging from his study, hurried forward to extricate his son from the wreckage, still laughing.

'Draco! Scor! Do you want dinner today or not?' his mother's annoyed voice came from the kitchen.

'Best not let your mum know, eh? Hurry now!'

Scorpius grinned sheepishly, chucked the flag on a chair, and they entered the kitchen.

'Oh yeah, Scor, I was almost forgetting… they're having a bring-your-kid-to-work day tomorrow at the office.'

Scorpius looked up from his salad in surprise. He stared, first at Astoria and then at Draco. Dad had obviously forgotten to mention it too.

He was always excited about a trip to the Ministry. And the fact that he was going with both Mum and Dad made it more special.

'They had it last year too,' Draco said, smiling at the excited expression on his son's face. 'You were away visiting Mother and Father at the Manor, so we didn't mention it, to save you the disappointment. It'll be fun, I guess. Bit of a birthday treat for you.'

'It's a new concept,' Astoria continued. 'Hermione Weasley's idea. It's really good, isn't it?'

'Who's Hermione Weasley?'

'Oh, she's a colleague of mine. She's in my new department. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She's done a lot of great stuff, really. I don't know her really well, though. She was above my year at Hogwarts. She was in your Dad's year.'

'Er – yes – she was always top of our year. She, Ronald – he's her husband now – and Harry Potter.

Scorpius listened in with interest. Draco hadn't ever really discussed the detail of his Hogwarts years.

'Harry Potter! Wow, were you guys friends?'

'Er – well – not really … '

His voice trailed away. Astoria, sensing his embarrassment, started clearing away their plates.

'No, you leave them. I and Scor will do them today … yeah?' he looked at Scorpius enquiringly. Scorpius nodded. 'You've had a pretty exhausting day, I know. You rest now,' Draco finished.

Astoria looked at the pair of them gratefully.

'Come on, son, let's get this lot done. Then we'll all have a round of Exploding Snap,' Draco said, and they started clearing the table.

Astoria stared at them fondly for a minute, and walked out of the kitchen into the hall. As she crossed over to their bedroom for a lie-down, he spotted a bit of shiny wrapping paper sticking out of a drawer in the cabinet in Draco's study.

'It'll spoil the surprise he planned if Scor sees his birthday present a day early now,' she muttered to herself, and crossed over to tuck it back into the drawer. As she pulled open the drawer, she spotted an old-looking envelope. It was addressed:

_Harry Potter_,

_Number 12, Grimmauld Place, _

_London_

Intrigued what a letter to Harry Potter might be doing here, she picked it up. It wasn't sealed. So it hadn't been posted yet. Curiosity got the better of her, and she slid out the parchment from the envelope. It ran:

_August 13__th__, 1998._

_Dear Harry,_

_Yes, you read that right. 'Dear Harry'. I was tempted to write just 'Harry', or worse, 'Potter', but the very purpose of this letter is to ask you to forgive, if not forget, old wrongs and start anew. _

_I write this in the full realisation that the things I did, the things I said, the way are behaved, are way beyond the boundaries of forgiveness. I myself cannot forgive myself for what I have done, so it would be silly to expect you to. But I still hope: the reason I'm writing this._

_I have realised now, nay, I have realised for a while, the wrongness and, indeed, monstrosity of my deeds. I was immature, insecure, and used to have my way. Those three things, I tell you, make a terrible combination. You were none of those things, except maybe insecure, though you never showed it. With my deluded ideas of power and authority, I tried to make life hell for you, as they say._

_In our first year, I was, of course, prejudiced about you. How could I not be, the way things were at home? I'm not justifying what I did, I'm telling you the reasons. I was deeply, inexplicably jealous of you. You had fame, popularity, appreciation, sympathy, and most importantly, friends. Friends who cared about you. Friends who loved you. There was none of that in my life. I was not even sure if my parents loved me, though I am now. I am sure of their love now, these past few months. Since the Battle._

_I always loved my parents, though. That was what led me to do the things I did, three years ago, in our sixth year. I was afraid, you see. Voldemort would surely have killed them if I hadn't complied. Added to that, the fact that I was working for him, gave me a kind of security. I was a sadist._

_I won't go more into the past now, there is only pain there. The scars of that time haven't yet faded, leave alone healed. I'm sure it's the same for you, and more so._

_I have debated so much with myself about writing this letter. I wanted to, you know, but I was afraid. It was my girlfriend, Astoria, who convinced me to write it. She said it would do me only good, to get this stuff off my heart. I don't think you know her… she was below our year. Astoria Greengrass. She's wonderful. I never thought I'd meet someone I would love so much. Actually, I never thought I'd meet anyone who would love me so much. But I have! She doesn't know a lot of my past, though. I intend to tell her by and by. And I intend to convince her I have changed. I intend to convince her to marry me. Speaking of that, how are things between you and Weasley's sister? And Weasley and Granger?_

_That's all, for now. I hope you find it in yourself to forgive me. I know you will: you are that kind of person. A good person. I know it now. _

_Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy._

Astoria continued to stare at the letter for a few seconds. Then her eyes travelled up instinctively to the last-but-one paragraph.

'_I never thought I'd meet anyone I would love so much.'_ She smiled.

Then she sighed. She had never discussed this properly with Draco. She only faintly remembered when she'd noticed him looking upset on a date and upon probing and being told the reason, advised him to get the stuff out. And he'd taken it so much to heart!

And this letter. The date was 1998. Nineteen years ago, and he still hadn't had the courage to send it. _It would have been nagging him at the back of his mind, always, _she thought.

She replaced the letter in the envelope and put it back into the drawer.

Her mind slipped back in time. She recalled how she'd met Draco, in the summer after the Battle. She had never known him properly before that. He had been in Daphne, her sister's year and she'd just seen him around. From all accounts, he was a bully. Daphne had never really liked him either.

But it had been love at first sight for both of them, and their romance had flourished as they had drew closer in the aftermath of the war. She could see he had changed, changed drastically, though now she thought it was his real nature. The old mask of arrogance had just been just that. Only a mask, to vent his frustrations. He was a nice person.

He had been completely honest with her, even then. He had told her everything about his background and family and his mistakes. _Like she cared! It had ceased to matter what he had been, what mattered was what he was now. _She had been deeply, irrevocably in love with him.

And she still was. What a man he was! The perfect husband, the perfect father. Loving, thoughtful, funny…

She sighed. He had to send that letter. It would only do him good. It was all over now. This would make it over for him too. She would talk to him. She would talk to him tonight.

Scorpius came running into the room, breaking her reverie.

'Mum! Where's the Exploding Snap? The dishes are done.'

'It was lying on the floor yesterday, dear. I put it on your table. Go check.'

Scorpius ran out of the room. Astoria kept staring after him. Draco entered, spotted the peculiar expression on her face, and slipped his arm around her.

'You look tired, sweetheart. Hard day?' he asked softly.

'No, no. I'm fine – Listen, darling, I need to talk to you.'

'Yeah?' he muttered, running his fingers through her hair. Then he pulled her close.

A warm wave of comfort seeped through Astoria. How long it'd been since he'd done that.

'It's like this,' she continued, looking into his loving, grey eyes. 'I've been wanting to s – '

'Dad! I found the Snap. Le – '

Scorpius, who had just come sprinting in, burst into giggles seeing his parents in their position.

They sprung apart by reflex, and then Draco grinned.

'What's wrong with that, young man? Your mum's my wife.'

Astoria swept the still giggling Scorpius in front of her, and they walked out.

'Later,' she whispered to Draco.


End file.
